UTSA volleyball broadens horizons with hire

UTSA Insider by Jerry Briggs

Updated 10:31 pm, Thursday, August 16, 2012

Photo: BOB OWEN, San Antonio Express-News

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Sanja Tomasevic, a former two-time All-American who led Washington to the NCAA title in 2005 at the Alamodome, has joined the Roadrunners’ volleyball program as an assistant coach. Bob Owen / San Antonio Express-News

Sanja Tomasevic, a former two-time All-American who led Washington to the NCAA title in 2005 at the Alamodome, has joined the Roadrunners’ volleyball program as an assistant coach. Bob Owen / San Antonio

Now in her first college coaching job, she is working for UTSA coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff and alongside fellow assistant Zheng Xiang to help raise the level of play at the local Division I school.

“I didn't know what to expect when I got here,” said Tomasevic, 32, a native of Serbia. “I had no idea the level of the team. But I'm actually surprised positively.

“We've got quite a good team. Hope so. A lot to work on, but (we're) a talented team, for sure.”

In a move overshadowed last spring by the athletic department's involvement in conference realignment, Neugebauer-Groff quietly hammered out a deal that could also be a program-changer.

At the time, Tomasevic was playing for POMI Casalmaggiore in Italy and was looking for a way to transition out of the pro game.

Ready for a new challenge, she weighed a couple of offers from other universities before accepting the job with the Roadrunners.

Neugebauer-Groff quietly celebrated.

She couldn't announce the hire until June 18, but in Tomasevic, she had landed a charismatic individual with a championship pedigree.

“Even though (the recruits) are young, they're going to remember, especially locally, the outside hitter who won the Final Four here in 2005,” Neugebauer-Groff said.

But as UTSA transitions this fall into the Western Athletic Conference and next year into Conference USA, Neugebauer-Groff clearly wants to broaden the horizons of her program.

In Tomasevic, she not only has a coach with name recognition among recruits locally, but overseas, as well. Neugebauer-Groff said European players could help UTSA.

“It's hard to explain unless you've been there,” said Neugebauer-Groff, a former Texas Longhorns' star who played in Germany in the 1980s. “But here I was a college graduate, and there were 18-year-olds who I felt were more mature than I was.”

In day-to-day operations, Tomasevic coaches outside hitters, handles travel arrangements and also is charged with being a sounding board for players.

It's a role that Tomasevic has embraced. She has told the players they can come to her to discuss anything, as long as they respect her as a coach.

Tomasevic said the best part of the job is fast approaching, with UTSA scheduled to begin its season next week in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

“I'm sure we're going to be ready for whatever comes our way because the players are motivated and the coaches are motivated,” she said. “I think it's going to be fun.”